Interesting Signs and Products Found in Japan (February and March 2013)

You asked for it, so here it is.  A whole post of weird, funny, unique, and sometimes troublesome signs and products from Japan.  This won't be the end of it either, I plan on including these in my monthly recaps in the future.

Bathrooms deserve their own post, but I couldn't resist with sharing this now.  Below you will find something I found in a bathroom stall. Similar to a hand sanitizer dispenser, this is clearly a little more special.  According to instructions, a little cherub coming in, ripping off some toilet paper, spraying it with this Purelet dispenser and cleaning the toilet seat with it.  It's quite deceiving.  In real life, no little angel flew it to help me out.

One of the first silly signs I saw here.  At first glance, it just looks like a dog sad because it's not allowed to run on the track.  Not so, this poor little mutt is sad because it has a chicken wing as a leg, and CAN'T run.  Poor pup.

Vending machines.  Everywhere.  It's something I looked forward to when moving here.  We haven't found anything too 'out there' yet, mostly hot & cold beverages, cigarretts, phone cards, and ice cream.  But if you look closer, you will very often find a can of creamed corn along side the beverages.  It's served hot.  And no, we haven't tried it (yet).

Where can you find one of those creamed corns you ask?  Simply one of the many vending machines located at your nearest street.  Tommy Lee Jones will be there, on the front of the machine, posing like a BOSS.  There are lots of American celebrities on advertisements here...and they are always at least a little on the strange side.  You'll see.

Gargling fountain.  Weird at first, right?  But once you try it, GENIUS!!! Seriously.  We found this at the aquarium, and after eating lunch and spending a few hours walking around, we all had that dry stale mouth.  Until we used the gargle fountain.  Simply turn it on by placing pressure on the step, and something that sort of looks like water, but isn't shoots out like a water fountain.  I would describe it as mouthwash, but it tasted completely different than what we are use to.  Gargle for a few seconds and then spit it out.  It was AMAZING how it perked all of us up.  Why don't more places have this!?

I love the packaging here. I don't think I'll ever stop loving it.  It's not just the packaging, but the little cartoony characters on it.  For example, here's a cat, cleaning out it's own litter.  It's also the most unique cat litter I've ever seen, we'll have to give it a try one day and see what Sammy thinks.

I believe this was the first time I've been to a 'ticket' restaurant.  This one is a small chain on the island called Ramen Kagetsu Arashi, or more commonly known simply as Arashi.  When you walk in the door, you are greeted by a vending machine.  These are your choices to order.  No real detailed explanation on them, enough is in English to sort of figure out what you want.  The pictures help too.  I'll do a little review over at Kacey's Kitchen at some point, but thought it was interesting to share with you.  You insert your money, choose what you want, and a little ticket prints out.  You go find yourself a table and hand your ticket to the waiter.

 

At another Japanese fast food place, I enjoyed their descriptions of spicy levels.  BTW, Japanese sit down fast food is waaaay better than in the states.

Thanks to the commissary, we do get the food comforts of back home, but I was still surprised to see this hot sauce from my home state of New Jersey.  I've never seen it in a commissary back in the US, so I wonder why it's here.  

Here we go with the American celebrity advertising.  Leonardo DiCaprio holding a GIANT glass of Jim Beam filled to the brim.  I mean, there's so much booze in there the ice cubes won't even fit.  Stay classy Leo.

It's sunny here, so why wouldn't you buy a hat for your cat.  No joke.  These are cat sized hats made for cats.

Okay, I'm not sure about this one.  Obviously if you have hats for cats, you should have shirts for dogs.  Obviously.  But I'm curious, is this a fad everywhere that I've missed?  Do they sell/display dog shirts like this in other countries?

After your done shopping for Fido, make sure you don't leave in him the elevator.  Don't worry though, there are signs to remind you.  Watch out for your jump rope too!!!

Cats are loved here, except when they aren't.  Don't want a stray marking his territory all over your garden?  Simply line the area with this spikey plastic mat, aka cat repellent.  It'll make them cry.

And as a reminder, please leave the hermit crabs where they belong.

The real winner of this post is this.  A handful of friends have received these already as gifts from me, but we all still can't figure out what it really is or WHY.  WHY. WHY.  Wait, maybe we don't want to know.  No, it's not a condom.  It's a self inflating goose with adhesive to go over your cloths. The real question is why the fuck is there that creepy dude on the packaging.

Well, hope you enjoyed this catch up of weird shit.  The month end is coming up, so I'll be doing another roundup, this time, of all things April soon.  Stay in touch!


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